Birthday parties and other social events like weddings can present numerous sensory challenges for individuals who are over- or under-responsive to sensory input.
Depending on the number of partygoers and the setting, events can be very loud and also full on in terms of smells and visual stimuli. Some children’s birthday parties have activities that can be challenging for children with motor coordination difficulties to engage in.
In this webinar we will discuss and consider sensory aspects and activities for birthday parties for different age groups, and other social events. This webinar includes a free PDF copy of our Party and Events Sensory Survival Kit.
What you will learn:
This course also includes:
Webinar Recording - Planning Parties or Events for Individual with Sensory Differences
Originally qualifying as an OT in South Africa, Dr Lelanie gained her MSc in OT at Brunel University, London and her PhD at Newcastle University’s Population Health Sciences Institute. Her research is focusing on self-care in children with and without motor difficulties.
Lelanie has a background in clinical practice and higher education. As a clinician, she has worked in the NHS, charity and the private sector, and spent the majority of her clinical career working with children and young people with sensory integration difficulties. She is an Advanced Practitioner in Sensory Integration.
Prior to joining Sensory Integration Education in 2018, Lelanie was a Senior Lecturer in OT and MSc OT programme lead at Northumbria University. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Beth Smithson is an accomplished Occupational Therapist and Advanced Sensory Integration Practitioner. Her diverse career spans roles in the NHS, special schools, mainstream schools, community trusts, and NGOs overseas.
Beth's journey into sensory integration began with a Vietnamese NGO, where she spent two years educating staff in sensory integration theory and sensory-based interventions. Motivated by positive outcomes, she completed training with Sensory Integration Education in 2016, becoming an Advanced SI Practitioner.
In clinical roles, Beth applied sensory integration with children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) in mainstream schools and students with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) in a specialist secondary school provision. Recently, Beth managed Occupational Therapy services in the NHS, successfully advocating for and embedding sensory processing and integration practice into routine NHS service delivery.
Committed to advancing sensory integration, Beth supports others in their learning journeys, empowering clinicians, parents, and schools to advocate confidently for sensory integration practice.
